This point sits 200 feet from where the Lehi Tabernacle once stood, near 100 West in downtown Lehi.
Last reviewed 17 October 2026 · A two-minute read · 1849–now
The short answer
A white-brick Mormon tabernacle with a 112-foot tower stood near 100 West in Lehi, Utah, from its 1910 dedication until its 1962 demolition. Designed by architect Richard K. A. Kletting and seating eleven hundred, it was built starting in 1900, sold in 1920, bought back by the church in 1934, and finally torn down despite local opposition.
Statue commemorating David Evans, founder and first mayor of Lehi, Utah. Statue was erected in 2001. Dedicated for public viewing on Saturday, August 25, 2001 — 2001 · Bryan Chapman · CC BY-SA 4.0
1900 to 1962
A white brick tabernacle rose slowly in Lehi
The Lehi Tabernacle no longer stands, but this point once sat near its front steps in downtown Lehi. The building went up slowly. Workers broke ground in February 1900, and the finished Lehi Tabernacle wasn't dedicated until May 15, 1910, when Joseph F. Smith, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke at the ceremony.
The Lehi Tabernacle was built from white pressed brick, with a tower that rose 112 feet above the street. Inside, eleven hundred people could fill the seats at once. Lehi's Latter-day Saints had already spent years helping pay for the Provo Tabernacle before deciding to build one of their own, using plans drawn up by Salt Lake City architect Richard K. A. Kletting.
Near Pleasant Grove, in Battle Creek Canyon, Mormon militia under Captain John Scott killed at least four Timpanogos people on March 5, 1849. Brigham Young ordered the expedition to punish settlers' claims of cattle theft. The men killed included women and children among the families camped there.
At Fort Utah near Provo, three Mormon settlers shot and killed a Timpanogos Ute man in January 1850. The settlers accused him of stealing a shirt from a clothesline at the fort. They hid his body and the bodies of two other victims in the Provo River, and kept details of the killing from Church leadership.
At Fort Utah near Provo, Mormon settlers fought Timpanogos Utes in what became known as the Provo River Battle, from February 8 to 17, 1850. The fighting killed between 40 and 100 Native Americans and one militiaman.
1920 to 1937
The church sold, then bought back, its tabernacle
By 1920, Lehi's LDS bishops called the building a financial burden. The church sold it that year to the Alpine School District for $28,000. It became the High School Auditorium, a stage for graduations, recitals and town gatherings.
On December 16, 1929, a National Guardsman's smoldering cigarette started a fire in the basement, where the local Guard unit leased space for an armory. The fire caused over $3,000 in damage, but the building survived it.
By 1934, the church bought the building back for just $500 and spent about $42,000 restoring it. In 1937, the Lehi Stake made it a tabernacle again, and a 1941 remodel turned it back into a hub for conferences, recitals and performances.
1962 to now
The tabernacle fell but its cornerstone survived
In 1962, the city tore the Lehi Tabernacle down to build a new Lehi Stake Center on the same ground. Local residents fought to save it, but the demolition went ahead anyway. Only the cornerstone survived. It had been cut in 1901 by stonecutter Arthur Bradder and his son-in-law Joseph J. Gill, paid for with sixty dollars raised by 1,200 Sunday school children. Today that cornerstone sits in a pavilion at the Lehi Historical Society and Archives, a few blocks from this point.
The lot where this point sits, at 100 West, carries its own separate paper trail. A private buyer sold it to a private buyer in September 1978, then sold it to them again in December 1980, a second deed covering the same ground. The county platted it as Lot 1, Block 68, Plat A of the Lehi City Survey in 1981. A private buyer remains the county's owner of record for the parcel today.
The tabernacle is gone, and the lot nearby has passed through a plain string of family deeds since.
Read the ground you are standing on
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In March 1849, a militia under Captain John Scott killed at least four Timpanogos people in Battle Creek Canyon near present-day Pleasant Grove, after accusations of cattle theft.
In the fall of 1850, Mormon settlers founded Lehi, first called Sulphur Springs, on territory of the Timpanogos and Ute peoples that had been evacuated after earlier violence at Fort Utah.
In February 1850, Mormon settlers at Fort Utah fought Timpanogos Utes near the Provo River, killing between 40 and 100 Native Americans and one militiaman, after a Ute man had been murdered by settlers weeks earlier.
In January 1850, three Mormon settlers shot and killed a Timpanogos Ute man, remembered as Old Bishop, over an accusation he had stolen a shirt, and hid his body in the Provo River.
The Lehi North Branch Meetinghouse, built in 1894 and expanded in 1917, combines Gothic Revival and Classical Revival styles about 400 meters from here.
The Lehi Tabernacle, a white brick church with a 112-foot tower designed by Utah State Capitol architect Richard K.A. Kletting, was dedicated in 1910 and torn down in 1962 despite local opposition.
On December 16, 1929, a smoldering cigarette left by a National Guardsman sparked a fire in the tabernacle's basement armory, causing over $3,000 in damage.
The parcel at N 100 West was formally platted in 1981 as Lot 1, Block 68, Plat A of the original Lehi City Survey, though the owners had already bought it from a private owner in 1978 and again, by trustee's deed, in 1980.
The Lehi Civic Center held its grand opening on April 13, 2026, with new city council chambers, government offices, and a library space near this corner.
The Lehi Tabernacle was demolished in 1962 to make way for a new Lehi Stake Center on the same ground, despite opposition from local residents who fought to save it. Only its cornerstone survived the demolition.
What was here before the demolition in 1962?
Before 1962, a white pressed-brick tabernacle with a 112-foot tower stood on the ground, dedicated in 1910 by Joseph F. Smith and designed by architect Richard K. A. Kletting, seating eleven hundred people.
Who designed the Lehi Tabernacle?
Salt Lake City architect Richard K. A. Kletting, who also designed the Utah State Capitol, drew up the plans for the Lehi Tabernacle.
Why did the church sell the tabernacle in 1920?
Lehi's LDS bishops considered the building a financial burden, so the church sold it to the Alpine School District for $28,000 in 1920, after which it served as the High School Auditorium.
What happened to the tabernacle's cornerstone?
The cornerstone, cut in 1901 by stonecutter Arthur Bradder and his son-in-law Joseph J. Gill and paid for with sixty dollars raised by 1,200 Sunday school children, now sits in a pavilion at the Lehi Historical Society and Archives.
Who owns the lot at 100 West today?
A private buyer remains the Utah County owner of record for the parcel, which he and a private buyer bought from a private owner in 1978 and again by a 1980 deed, before it was platted in 1981 as Lot 1, Block 68, Plat A of the Lehi City Survey.
